Integration Team

Demonstrating its commitment for a-whole-of-system approach for the New Dunedin Hospital, WellSouth has a small team (1.5 FTE) working on a project to help avoid the NDH being at capacity on day one.

This isn’t about debating bed numbers or pointing fingers. It’s about identifying logical opportunities that back the sector to:
✔ Keep people well in their communities
✔ Avoid unnecessary hospital admissions
✔ Be funded fairly for the care they provide

The team includes Integration Manager, Primary and Community Services for New Dunedin Hospital, Nick Taylor, one part time clinical advisor, Lucia Magee, and support from Integration and Programme Director, Stuart Barson.

Meet the team

Meet Nick Taylor, our Dedicated Primary Care Integration manager appointed for New Dunedin Hospital

Stuart Barson is on our Senior Leadership Team.

Lucia Magee is one of our Clinical Advisors. She will be replaced by GP Jenny McDiarmid. 

Together, they make up 1.5 FTE per week working on this project.  

The Integration Team including Lucia, Jenny, Nick and Stuart

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News

Making a start - Project scoping 

21 July 2025

The New Dunedin Hospital: NZ’s largest health infrastructure investment.

At $1.88 billion, the New Dunedin Hospital (NDH) is the biggest health infrastructure project ever undertaken in New Zealand. When it opens, it will have:

  • 351 inpatient beds

  • 20 same-day beds under a new 23-hour model of care

This built capacity assumes: a 30% efficiency gain in surgical and medical acute bed days. The business cases for the NDH call out three critical dependencies to achieve this -– one is "new and complementary initiatives in the primary and community sector."

So, what’s currently happening in the primary and community sector to realise that assumption? What is the cost of inaction – on the patient, the community, the system?

At WellSouth, we’ve asked that same question - and then put our hands up (rest assured we are connected with Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora).
With a small team (1.5 FTE), we’re working on a project to help avoid the NDH being at capacity on day one.

This isn’t about debating bed numbers or pointing fingers.
It’s about identifying logical opportunities that back the sector to:
✔ Keep people well in their communities
✔ Avoid unnecessary hospital admissions
✔ Be funded fairly for the care they provide

The primary and community workforce is already doing amazing work in this area and our job is to support and scale that – there are five years until opening and the longer we wait, the fewer options there are to support meaningful change.

This isn’t about infrastructure; it is about doing the right things in the pursuit of the best health care and wellbeing for our Southern communities.